I understand the frustrations. The Tigers’ season began with what looked to be realistic SEC championship aspirations. No one envisioned it reaching the Georgia and Alabama portion of the proceedings with three losses and zero College Football Playoff hopes.

But to me, a few more losses than expected is not a reason to shell out $32 million to fire a coach you just gave a seven-year contract to in January. The message that sends to players, parents and future coaching candidates is Auburn’s word doesn’t mean anything. And despite this season's struggles, there is still a lot to like about the direction of the program.

(As long as you're not comparing Auburn to Alabama, that is. You should not do that.)

Malzahn certainly does need to get better and more consistent results on the field than he has gotten this season, though. There are ways to start that Saturday at Georgia.

Let’s talk about them in this week’s Mailbag. As always, you can tweet me your questions each week. I will answer the best ones on Friday.

Here we go:

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn high fives his team as they come off the field after a touchdown at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018.(Photo: Jake Crandall)

Would love to see Auburn go four- or five-wide and run pace all night against Georgia to give the Tigers a puncher’s chance in Athens. You think they would?

— Ryan (@PearcyRyan)

This was the question of the week during Malzahn’s news conference on Tuesday. Because when Auburn did exactly what Ryan suggests three days earlier against Texas A&M, it gave the offense life. For 3 1/2 quarters against the Aggies, the Tigers stopped and substituted personnel seemingly after every play. It worked on one nine-play, 80-yard drive in the second quarter, but left the offense stagnant on the rest of its drives, during which it gained just 69 yards on 32 plays.

But on Auburn’s last two drives, it torched Texas A&M for 129 yards and two touchdowns on 10 plays. Jarrett Stidham went from completing 11 of his first 21 passes for 114 yards to 7 of his last 8 for 125 yards. The biggest difference was that, other than one play (Chandler Cox’s 1-yard touchdown run at the end of the first drive), the Tigers didn’t substitute. They put their five best skill players on the field in a four-wide, one back set (JaTarvious Whitlow, Ryan Davis, Darius Slayton, Seth Williams and Anthony Schwartz) and turned the tempo up as high as it could go.

Of course, when asked Tuesday if Auburn would do the same thing against Georgia, Malzahn answered in the way he typically does when it comes to anything related to game strategy. “Each game is a little bit different with your approach and who you're playing and their strengths and everything that goes with it. … Sometimes you need to substitute for certain things, sometimes you don’t. … I wouldn't tell right now even if we were doing that, but rhythm is very important.”

Still, Malzahn did admit that Auburn is “not hurrying enough” at times. Some of that does have to do with execution. Like offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said earlier this season, the key to getting into pace is having a good play early in a drive. You can play fast after a 6-yard run or 10-yard pass, but it’s much harder to hustle back to the line if that first-down play is a run for no gain or an incompletion. Playing fast is good; going three-and-out fast is not.

But it does seem like the Tigers would benefit from at least making the effort to substitute less and play fast more like they did during their final two drives in the come-from-behind victory over the Aggies. After all, Malzahn did literally write the book on the hurry-up, no-huddle offense.

What’s the actual worst-case scenario for Auburn football this weekend?

— Connor (@Kconnorriley)

That it does none of the things written above, tries and fails (again) to establish a run game and get anything going on offense with constant substitution and little rhythm, puts its defense back on the field repeatedly after three-and-outs and watches helplessly as the dam inevitably breaks against a run-first Georgia offense that has the ability to get stronger as a game goes on. This Bulldogs team is really, really good, but it is not invincible, as shown by that loss to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. If Auburn can slow down running backs Elijah Holyfield and D’Andre Swift and pressure quarterback Jake Fromm into a turnover or two, it can put itself in a position to stay competitive throughout. But the Tigers won’t be able to survive another week of scoring only 14 points through the first 54 minutes of a game. Especially in Athens, Ga., where they haven’t won since 2005 and haven’t even scored a point after the first quarter since 2009.

The last three times the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry has been played in Athens:

How good is Auburn’s basketball team when it doesn’t shoot 50 percent from the 3-point line?

— Micah (@MicahGarner50)

This is a good question, and I think the jury might still be out on the answer. Because when Auburn shoots like it did Tuesday when it made 18 of 37 3-pointers, it’s a force to be reckoned with. Yeah, that particular performance came against a South Alabama team that did not look particularly good, but as coach Bruce Pearl said after the game, “We would have beaten a lot of people tonight.”

Of course, the Tigers aren’t going to shoot at that clip every single night, even if they do have that ability. They didn’t in the exhibition against Lincoln Memorial, making just 6 of 26 attempts from beyond the arc in a game that was probably closer than it should have been. They also didn’t in games late last season, specifically in the NCAA Tournament, and, well, you saw what happened against Clemson.

But I do think this year’s team is better equipped than last year’s to continue playing well on offense even if its 3-point shot isn’t falling. Jared Harper already looks much more comfortable driving to the basket than he did a year ago. Chuma Okeke looks like the breakout star many (including myself) thought he would be this season. When Austin Wiley makes his long-awaited return (which could come Friday night against Washington), he’ll give the Tigers a back-to-the-basket, interior presence they didn’t have last year; someone they can truly just dump the ball in to and let him work.

Plus, Auburn is probably going to hit those shots more often than not. J’Von McCormick/Samir Doughty/Danjel Purifoy looks like it will be an outside shooting upgrade from Davion Mitchell/Mustapha Heron/Desean Murray.

“I don’t, by the way, love by the expression, ‘You live and die by the three,’” Pearl said Thursday. “Whoever made that doesn’t have a clue about basketball. Yeah, because you can live pretty well off the three-ball.”

Revisiting a classic from last year: Can you put together a baseball team — complete lineup, with a DH, starting pitcher and relievers — complied of Auburn football players? I’ll hang up and listen.

— Tom (@Tomas_Verde) … stolen from Justin (@JFergusonAU)

I put one of these together for the Opelika-Auburn News earlier this year, but it’s worth revisiting now. Auburn’s talented freshman class would have as much of an impact on this hypothetical baseball team as it is having on the football team this season.

C — John Samuel Shenker: Was a baseball commit before he signed to play football and was once a member of the USA Baseball U17 national team development program.

1B — Sal Cannella: His brother, Cosimo, played college ball for Missouri Western, and at 6-foot-5, Sal is a big target at first base.

2B — C.J. Tolbert: Was an all-area selection after hitting .341 as a junior at Dadeville High.

3B —Asa Martin: He once played JV baseball at Austin High in Decatur.

SS — Malik Willis: Hit .487 as a senior at Roswell High as a junior, and you know he’s got the range and arm.

LF — Cord Sandberg: The ringer. He hit .243 with 29 home runs and 173 RBIs over six seasons in minor league baseball.

CF — Anthony Schwartz: His speed would be a weapon in the outfield and on the basepaths.

RF — Seth Williams: He played some baseball coming up, and there’s probably nothing he can’t do athletically.

DH — Caleb Johnson: Lettered in baseball in high school, and I bet he swings a power bat.

Starting pitcher — Devin Adams: He had a 6.16 ERA as a senior at Vigor High, which is the best number I could find.